French History has published a review of my monograph, Warrior Pursuits: Noble Culture and Civil Conflict in Early Modern France (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010).
Fadi el Hage, who is based at the Institut Universitaire de Technologie at Université de Paris XIII – Saint-Denis, nicely situates Warrior Pursuits in the historical literature on history of the French nobility and studies of royal offices in France.
El Hage identifies one of the major theoretical issues addressed, stating that: “This book underlines how much we have to be wary of the concept, expounded by Max Weber, known as as the monopoly on legitimate violence. The permanent royal army was not the proof of a complete royal monopoly.”
El Hage rightly emphasizes the notion of confusion des pouvoirs in early modern French politics and society, seeing the provincial nobles analyzed in Warrior Pursuits as powerful political actors and members of the royal state.
French History is the leading academic journal published in the United Kingdom in the field of French historical studies. This book review has been published online at French History as an “advance access” review. I will update the citation for El Hage’s review when the print version is released:
Fadi El Hage, “Review of Warrior Pursuits. Noble Culture and Civil Conflict in Early Modern France. By Brian Sandberg.” French History (2012).
Brian Sandberg: Historical Perspectives 
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